middle wi news - october

8/3/2019 Middle WI News - October

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Information Technology SolutionsMiddle WisconsinNews

A FACT-DRIVEN VOICE FOR

MIDDLE WISCONSIN VIEWS

FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE STATE

FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS

Octo b e r 2 2 , 2 0 1 1

Labor History . . . . . . . . . .1

Working Wisconsin . . . . . .4

Hmong Perspectives . . . . 5

Emerge Wisconsin . . . . . 6

Beyond Wisconsin . . . . . .7

Challenging the Myth . . . . 8 The Great Inequality . . . .10

Money or Sense . . . . . . .12

2011Middle Wisconsin

IN THIS ISSUE:

w w w .M id d le W isco n s in .co m

(Continued on next page)

The long memory is the most radical idea in America. Utah PhillipsLast March and April, as Wisconsin workers said No! to Scott Walker and theKoch brothers, several people in Rhinelander began to talk with each other aboutthe importance of knowing our history as working people. Each brought a differenset of experiences in the labor movement, but each realized that Wisconsin workers

were facing an attack unlike any other in generations. They realized how important it was thelessons workers have learned at great cost notbe forgotten. Northwoods Grassroots LaborActivists was formed to keep the long memoryalive.

The Walkers and Kochs do not want us toremember that working people have foughtand struggled forand won -their rights fordecent wages, hours and working conditions.These men who are trying to turn the clockback one hundred and fifty years do not want

us to remember what our parents, and grandparents and their parents have done toclaim a minimum of dignity and respect from employers and from the government.

The new robber barons do not want us to

remember Eugene Debs and Lucy Parsons,

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and William Haywoodbecause they led workers in pitched battlesagainst the old robber barons.

The new robber barons do not want us to

remember the Bayview Massacre or the Lud-low Massacre, the Italian Hall disaster, or theRepublic Steel Massacre when workers andtheir wives and children were killed by powerand wealth driven by greed for more.

LABOR HISTORYBy

Northwoods Grassroots Labor Activists

Wisconsin workers say NO

A girl works in a textile mill

SOLIDARITY


2/13

LABOR HISTORY CONTINUED . . . .

Middle Wisconsin NewsOcto b e r 2 2 , 2 0

Pa g e

We shouldall bethankfulfor those

people whorekindle

the innerspirit.

--Albert Schweitzer


They want us to forget the long list of brave men and women like Albert Parsons, JoHill, Fannie Sellins, Frank Little, and Karen Silkwood who were killed to intimidateother workers into accepting whatever their bosses had in store for them.

Why do they want us to forget? Utah Phillips, a labor organizer and folk singer, hasaid, The long memory is the most radical idea in America.. Working peoplesmemories include the long list of injustices from fourteen hour work days to condi-tions that used up workers lives and health. In 1912 the women on strike in Law-rence, Massachusetts, sang, Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give uroses! We remember them and we remember that together we can win. We can windecent pay and decent conditions for working andfor living. We can win the bread

and the roses.

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn speaksto striking textile workers.

Chicago police fire into workers families

marching toward the Republic Steel millon Memorial Day, 1937



3/13

LABOR HISTORY CONTINUED . . . .


Pa g e

You gainstrength, courageand confidence

by every experi-ence in which

you really stop tolook fear in theface. You areable to say to

yourself, I havelived through this

horror. I cantake the nextthing that comes

along.You must do thething you thinkyou cannot do.

--Eleanor Roosevelt


Wisconsin Workershave a rich history, not just of progressive legislation at Madison,

but of direct action and struggle in the work place.

Wisconsin workers led the nation in the fight forthe eight hour workday. A Wisconsin governorsent the National Guard who killed seven workerson the south side of Milwaukee in 1886

In 1898 Oshkosh woodworkers struck most ofthe mills in the city. The lumber barons at-tempted to jail the union leaders on trumpedup charges. The whole country watched asClarence Darrow led a successful defense.

The Kohler Strike which beganin 1954 was one of the longest,but Wisconsin workers foughtthrough to a victory.

Northwoods Grassroots Labor ActivistsUpcoming Presentations

OctoberThe Rhinelander Paper Mill laborers as manyaround the state were involved in many conflictsto win rights for workers. This program featurestheir stories.

NovemberIn November we remember Joe Hill and theLittle Red Song Bookstill fanning the flames ofdiscontent.

DecemberOn Christmas Eve, 1913, on the Upper Peninsu-la thugs killed seventy-three, mostly children, ofstriking copper workers..The Italian Hall Disas-terwas just one of many times that women andchildren were killed by the greed of the bosses.

Facebook Page: Northwoods Grassroots Labor Activists

Blog: http://northwoodssolidarity.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/125335197552776/http://www.facebook.com/groups/125335197552776/http://northwoodssolidarity.blogspot.com/http://northwoodssolidarity.blogspot.com/http://northwoodssolidarity.blogspot.com/http://www.facebook.com/groups/125335197552776/


4/13

Information Technology Solutions

Collective Action

Labor unions have long engaged in what is called collective action. The great equalizer foworkers regarding collective action is to withhold from the employer their labor. This iscommonly known as a strike. A strike, in theory, would force the employer to negotiatewith their employees as the employer could no longer produce a product or service. Thehistory of the United States near the turn of the 19th century was rife with strikes as workeendured 16 hour days, 6 day workweeks and wages barely enough to survive on. In someparts of the country, the workers were paid in currency or credit in which the worker used

them at the company store to buy food and pay rent on their company owned homes. Workers rose up against the robber barons with collective action and created a myriad of changesuch as the eight hour work day, eliminating child labor and compensation for workers whwere hurt on the job. Unfortunately thousands of brave workers were seriously hurt or killfighting for dignity and fairness in the workplace. Examples of this would include theBayview Massacre in Milwaukee and the Pullman Strike in Illinois. If you didnt know it,Labor Day was created as a national holiday by President Grover Cleveland to appease labunions for the violence inflicted on them during the Pullman wildcat strike.

There is an old adage that says Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Unfortnately, we have forgotten where we came from and history is again repeating itself. We arin the age of the New Robber Barons. Crushing the working and middle class has been in

the works for over thirty years. Republicans have been hard at work repealing the New Dechampioned by President Franklin Roosevelt with attacks on social security, Medicare andworkers rights along with a corporate friendly legislative agenda. This legislative agendacoddles the wealthy and give tax breaks to corporations disguised as job creation. LeonHelmsley once so famously said to a maid who testified at her federal income tax evasiontrial in 1989, "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.

The time has come once again for collective action. The age of the New Robber Barons isupon us. Only collective action has changed the course of our history. In laymans terms,take it to the streets. The protests at the Capital in February and March 2011 over strippingpublic workers of a voice in their workplace have created a movement. This led to the recaelections this last summer and surprisingly the Occupy Wall Street movement thanked the

Wisconsin protests for their inspiration.

It is not enough to be a keyboard warrior. It is only through taking it to the streets that true

change will occur. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved - ask around. In the

same breath, changing the nature and direction of our country and our communities also

means getting off your butt. Politics is not a spectator sport. Run for local office and if yo

cant or are unwilling, then call your friends and neighbors who may be able to. There are

plenty of elections coming up at the local, state and federal level that need progressive can

didates. Volunteer to knock on some doors or do some mailings. There is plenty of work

that you can do to make a difference. Turn back the New Robber Barons - dont let histor

repeat itself.

Working WisconsinLabor News and Views

By John Spiegelhoff


Pa g e


First they ignoreyou,

then they laughat you,

then they fghtyou,

then you win.Gandhi


5/13

When the first Hmong family arrived in Wausau, WI in 1977, they had no resources forfinding livestock such as chickens, hogs, and cows. As more families moved into thearea finding livestock became more difficult. A language barrier among the families andAmerican sellers was problematic because both the consumer and seller were unable tounderstand one another. I saw an opportunity that would generate income and benefitthe Hmong people in a way which provided fresh meat for their families. Therefore,with this endeavor Mekong Fresh Meats, Inc. was born.

Mekong Fresh Meats, Inc. was established in 1993 at 924 Locker Rd, Mosinee, WI54455. Our mission was to provide and help Southeast Asian families find live chick-ens, pigs, and cows so they could continue their traditional practices of butchering ani-mals, using sanitary methods. The company assures that whatever kind of meat pur-chased is fresh and not contaminated. From 1993 to 1997, Mekong Fresh Meats, Inc.operated with custom butchering services only. We would bring in live animals into thefacility and the customers would come and pick their animals which were then butch-ered on site. For those who practiced the Hmong culture, they were given permission to

use the outside pan (opening are) to perform Hmong rituals with no extra charge.

We have helped and served local communities for many years and decided to extend ourservices to other communities throughout the state of WI. Therefore, we obtained a statepermit that allowed us to process and deliver chickens, pork, and beef to other commu-nities. In this way, many families who lived outside the Wausau area had the same op-portunities to get fresh meat.

In 2003, as Mekong Fresh Meats grew from custom butchering to a state facility. Wedecided to apply for a Federal Permit that was regulated by the Unites State Departmentof Agriculture (USDA), so we could make more products to ship to customers outsideof the state of Wisconsin. We currently ship these products: oriental style sausages,

smoked beef, smoked pork and chicken. These products are delivered all over the Unit-ed States.

Mekong Fresh Meats, Inc. not only serves Southeast communities, but also providesservices to farmers who would like to butcher pigs, chickens, and cows. Many farmersbring their chickens in to be butchered, wrapped, and labeled so they can sell them atthe Farmers markets.

Since Mekong Fresh Meats, Inc. was established, we have helped many families contin-ue their cultural customs and helped satisfy the needs of many farmers. We will contin-ue to serve our customers for many more years to come.

Hmong Perspectives


Pa g e


Mekong Fresh Meats-Processing the

Freshest Meats Today and TomorrowHmong history andculture can be found

in the form of oral sto-ries, oral poetry, tex-tile art, and music butthere is no written ac-count of Hmong life,by a Hmong hand,

passed down throughthe centuries. As an

undergraduate,BurleeVang experi-

enced this void whenhe received valuableadvice from his Eng-lish professor: Write

about your people.That story has notbeen told. If youdont, who will?

A Hmong AmericanLiterary Anthology

By

Neng Soua Yang and Katong Yang
http://www.asianweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Hmong-Anthology.jpg


6/13


Pa g e


In the Orthodoxspiritual tradi-

tion, the ultimate

moral questionwe ask is the fol-lowing: Is whatwe are doing, iswhat I am doing,beautiful or not?

-- Carolyn Gifford(Orthodox Theologian)

Moving forward from the cold winter days we marched in Madison to the budge

hearings held around the state in April, Wisconsins future looked bleak. June

rolled around and Mandy Wright and Nancy Stencil heard of a program called

Emerge Wisconsin while attending a Democratic Party meeting. Applications

and references were filed a month later and we waited. This year saw abundancein candidates applying and all were interviewed. Fast forward to September and

we find ourselves sitting in class. We have been selected!

What is Emerge Wisconsin? Emerge is a seven month program that helps Demo

cratic women tap into their potential and provides essential training and net-

working to increase the number of women in public office. Teaching Democratic

values, the most recent success story of Emerge is Jess King, State Senator in

District 18. Backed by some of Wisconsins finest, the Board of Advisors are

Tammy Baldwin, State Representative Donna Seidel, and U.S. Representative

Gwen Moore, to name a few.

The figures are sad for women holding public office in the United States.

Emerge states that the United States ranks 84th in the world for women being

elected for office. Only 17% of the U.S. Congress are women. Women are 50 %

of Wisconsins population and are severely under represented.

Here we are on our first weekend of class - twenty-six of us. Some already hold

public office and one announces her candidacy a week later. Emerge provided us

a wealth of information from top-notch presenters this first weekend. We are

strong women of varied backgrounds and by the end of this first weekend the

camaraderie is overwhelming!

EMERGEWISCONSINNancy Tabaka Stencil

By


7/13



Pa g e

Beyond Wisconsin

Where are the new jobs? Why are businesses hesitant about investing in newjobs? The excuse is uncertainty. But what is uncertain? Is it the workforce?The market? Perhaps the reason is one that Jeremy Rifkin points out well in hismany books. We are now in a post-oil era. The production of oil peaked in 1976(based on per capita production figures). What jobs are based on oil and what jobsare based on alternate energies? Have US businesses admitted we are now in anew era, one of dwindling oil supplies, but with potential alternatives in wind andsun?

Here is the vision of the next Industrial Revolution.

According to economist and social thinker Jeremy Rifkin, the five pillars of theThird Industrial Revolution must be implemented together. If one pillar getsahead of the others, the synergies are never created, you waste billions and younever get the system in place.

Its the entire five pillars that make up a living infrastructure that will create acollaborative commons economy.

1. Shift to renewable energy.

Hydroelectricity is the largest source of sustainable energy in Europe. In thenext 10 years, wind energy will take over the lead position and solar energy willbecome increasingly important.

2. Convert buildings into micro power plants.All new construction must be energy neutral. The requirements for existingbuildings are less strict. Solar panels can be on every roof.

3. Make green energy easy to collect.Large-scale electricity storage is already a reality, but small-scale storage ofsustainable energy in batteries has not progressed beyond research.

4. Connect the energy Internet across continents.Using electricity from a neighboring roof requires smart information andcommunications connected to the Internet. Smart electricity meters need to beinstalled on a massive scale.

5. Plug in green transport.Set a timeline in which fossil fuel-powered cars will be eliminated. There istechnology to charge car batteries in 15 minutes A number of European coun-tries have opened tenders for a national network of quick-changing stations.

By Virginia Kirsch

During the FirstGreat Depression inthe 1930s, therecovery image wasa car in everygarage and a chicken

in every pot.During the SecondGreat Depression(2008 - ?), I thinkthe slogan should besolar panels onevery roof andhydrogen-storage

batteries in every

garage.

Virginia Kirsch

THE FIVE PILLARS OF THE NEXTINDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION


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The criticaltask at hand is

to harness thepublic capital,the marketcapital and es-pecially the so-cial capital ofthe human race

to the missionof transitioningthe world to aThird Industri-al Revolutioneconomy andpost-carbonera.

-- Jeremy Rifkin

Many Americans who grew up in the 50s and 60s, when a single income sup-ported most families, can recall predictions for the turn of the century. Automa-tion would usher in an age of prosperity where machines would do the work andpeople would need to learn how to constructively use their growing leisure time.Half of this prediction became true. Automation did vastly increase our abilityto produce the stuff of an abundant life. However, it now takes two incomesto support most families, and leisure time is a diminishing luxury.

What is seldom considered in this time of high unemployment is that as manywell-paying jobs were lost to automation as to outsourcing. The elegant technol

ogies that might have freed us are instead leading to impoverishment. There isno lack of productive capacity to abundantly support humanity, but our ancientconcepts of earning a living, and our reflexive you or me hoarding instinctprevent us from realizing our true wealth.

Automation is growing in virtually every industry, but its typical results are mos

visible in manufacturing. When a manufacturer automates they almost always

become significantly more productive and profitable, and they generally require

less manpower. Although some of the increased profitability is a result of elimi-

nating employees, most of it is because machines can do the repetitive tasks of

manufacturing more quickly and accurately than humans. In other words, an

automating company is actually more capable than before of supporting the em-

ployees it is eliminating.

Most of the jobs lost to automation are gone for good and they should be. Ro-

bots and computers are better at doing mindless operations than humans. But

herein lays the quandary. By automating, industries have become more produc-

tive and profitable, but because employees are eliminated, fewer people can af-

ford the very products that are now more available. It is the equivalent of

Challenging the Myth . . .

And if all others accepted the lie which the party

imposedif all records told the same talethen the lie passed into history and became the truth.

George Orwell, 1984

Earning a LivingQuestioning the Premise

By Dave Svetlik



9/13


Pa g e


We cant affordit, people will

say. I refuse tobelieve this.Whenever aPresident wantsto go to warsomewhere, hecan always find$3 trillion to doit. Wheneverbanks need bail-ing out, sudden-ly trillions be-come available.So dont tell mewe cant affordit.

-

Matthew Rothschild

The Progressive

requiring people to starve in a garden of plentywhile watching the food rot because they are nolonger earning the right to live. We can produceall that is necessary to support everyone, but indoing so we are producing fewer and fewer jobs.We must profoundly rethink what it means to earna living.

Virtually all of the gains from automation have

gone to the wealthiest one or two percent. CEOpay has gone from 40 times the average employeeincome in the 70s to 300 times today. Had thegains continued to be distributed as equitably asthey were from the 50s through the 70s, we wouldbe living in a far healthier economy, and people actually would be seeing growingleisure time. The 20 hour work week to support a family would be a realisticgoal.

For thousands of years the you or me hoarding instinct was necessary for hu-mans to survive. The current gross wealth inequality is the continuation of this

reflexive behavior. However, those same years provided all of the hard wonknowledge required for humanity to overcome this ancient need. We can chooseto end our current downward spiral, but we are not going to do so thinking likecavemen in a nanotechnology world.

Humanity can afford to do whatever the laws of physics will allow, and it is infi-

nitely beyond the self-imposed limits of our now utterly inadequate, disconnected

economic systems. As we did with the GI Bill after World War II, we must begin

paying people to go back to school, to pursue the work they love, to do that which

humans do best think. Maybe even to go fishing. The return on investment for

mankind will be enormous and we can no longer afford not to do this.

Challenging the Myth Continued . . .

Assembly Line Robots


10/13


Pa g e


Tax evasion byoffshoringmoney and

corporatehome offices is

desertion ofAmerica

I have lived in Wisconsin most of my life, expect for a brief stint in MichigansUpper Peninsula. Wisconsin was one of the most progressive states in the nationbut we have been high-jacked by radical Republicans through an echo chamberwhich promotes and encourages us to vote against our own self interests. It issimply amazing to me how this could have happened to us in Wisconsin and alsoin the United States. We have become a nation where 2% of Americans own

more assets than the bottom 80%. We are at a tipping point with the wealth ineq-uity in our nation. Here is how it happened:

Republicans belief system:

Individual initiative trumps all. You either make it or you dont. If youdont make it then you failed to take advantage of a free market systemwhich gives you the ability to start your own business and become richand prosperous. If you failed to become rich, then too bad for you. Youare on your own. If you didnt get rich, then you were not disciplinedenough and dont deserve handouts from the government. This com-

pletely ignores any sense of collective responsibility in our communitiesfor those who are in need. It is by its very essence unchristian and contrary to Wisconsin values.

Free markets should be unrestrained and unburdened by the government.This would explain the battle cry of lets get rid of the DNR and FDAamong other watchdog governmental agencies for the public good! Iwould submit to you that if this would occur, our lakes would be pollutedour food tainted and our water poisoned. Such shining examples of thiswould be the Cuyahoga River fire in 1969 and the unregulated meat packing industry at the turn of the century (read The Jungle by Upton Sin-

clair). The Republicans believe the free market economy is natural andmoral. A Darwin sort of thing.

The free market creates jobs and should be unrestrained by government. Byextension this means that the wealthy are the most deserving of tax pay-ers money (the very system they loathe) since they supposedly createjobs. This would include significant restraints on what ordinary citizenscan sue a corporation who made a defective or harmful product (tort lia-bility). Corporations know best. This is particularly codified in the 2010

The Great Inequality and the

Republican Myth PerpetuationBy John Spiegelhoff



11/13


Pa g e


One of thereasons wehave so muchinequality isthat the topone percentwants it thatway.

--Joseph Stiglitz

Im heartenedby the fightingspirit Ive wit-nessed all yearin Madison,Wisconsin, andseen elsewherein Michigan,

New Jersey,and Ohio

--Matthew Rothschild

Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commis-sion decision which stated that corporations are people under the FirstAmendment and are allowed to give unlimited amounts of money in thepolitical arena. It is no wonder we are fast becoming a nation ruled bythe wealthy.

Use the political system by passing laws to maintain their power and advancetheir agenda through voter suppression and stealing the vote if needed.

What is astounding is that the Republicans really believe that they speak for theordinary citizen in the United States. What is even more astounding is that whenoffered proof contrary they ignore the evidence and advance their agenda. This iextremely evident when the Republicans opined there was voter fraud in Wiscon-sin. The statistics show there was only .003% voter fraud in Wisconsin and theVoter ID law was certainly not warranted. The Republicans suppressed the votebecause they were in power and aim to stay in power. Their legislative agendadoes not comport to what ordinary citizens and their communities believe. Theyspeak about jobs but offer no tangible program for people to get back to work.They support the exportation of American jobs overseas. They then demonize

ordinary citizens as being lazy and unworthy of taking part in public programs.They defund unemployment compensation benefits, Medicaid and other socialsafety net programs. Social security and Medicare are also under attack giventheir belief that everyone is responsible for themselves and social security andMedicare are handouts.

Enough is enough. Turn off the Fake (Fox) entertainment network. Reject theagenda of the right which is unchristian and contrary to the values and mores ofour communities. Advance and support progressive values which once madeWisconsin a progressive beacon. I wish to live in that State again.

DISCLAIMER: Many of these points and arguments come from authors GeorgeLakoff and Drew Westen. They have written such books as Dont Think Of AnElephant (Lakoff), The Political Brain (Westen) and also Whose Freedom?(Lakoff) I highly suggest that you read these books. If you cant read them all atthe very least read Dont Think Like an Elephant as it is very easy, instructive andyou cant put it down type of reading.

The Great Inequality Continued . . .


12/13


Pa g e


Civilizationsthroughout his-tory have ex-perienced criti-

cal momentsof reckoningwhen theyhave had tochange theircourse radical-ly or face the

prospect of de-mise. Somewere able totransformthemselves intime; otherswere not.

--Jeremy Rifkin

We are all aware of the global economic turmoil currently driving millions of people intopoverty. What is ignored about this crisis is that before the economic collapse in 2008the world was capable of supporting these people, and after the collapse it was not.Clearly the supportive capacity of the planet has not gone away it is physically as capable of providing for us in 2011 as it was in 2007 so one must look at flawed economicmodels and patterns of thinking as major contributors to the problem.

One of the first steps we might take in effecting the mental metamorphosis required toovercome old paradigms is rephrasing the question how do we make the most money?to how do we make the most sense? Doing so results in dramatically different answersand shifts human perspectives.

Asking How do we make the most money automatically reduces thinking to self-serving scenarios for limited numbers of people. Multinational corporations have under-stood the world is a closed, interdependent system since the time of the British and DutchEast India Companies in the 1600s, and have ignored national boundaries for centuries.They realize resources and knowledge are distributed globally. However, the sole ques-tion asked by corporations is how do we make the most money and the singular goal isto exploit populations and resources everywhere to make a profit. People are kept men-tally locked in their nation prisons to facilitate easy divide and conquer, and culturaland racial diversity are used as tools to alienate and exploit. How do we make the mostmoney feeds on you or me thinking and justifies everything from sweatshops to war.

It believes in and thrives on the worst in human nature.

Asking how do we make the most sense is inherently global in perspective and under-

stands that long term success for any requires long term success for all. It pursues the

synergetic advantages of holistic thinking and recognizes that each part affects the whole

Advantaging one group of people at the expense of another is inevitably self-destructive

How do we make the most sense applauds cultural and racial differences as rich and

necessary components of a healthy, functioning community. Rather than dividing, this

diversity is cherished as the collective human intellect. Nations are complimentary not

destructively competing organizational elements of the total human social fabric.

Making the most sense treasures we thinking and deplores sweatshops and wars. It

believes in and thrives on the best in human nature.

Making money hoards knowledge and disseminates misinformation to gain advantage

in the game of you or me. By destroying synergetic advantages it guarantees inade-

quacies and manufactures and manipulates scarcity as a tool for profit making.

Making sense readily disseminates knowledge, understanding that the sharing of infor-mation is critical to gaining synergetic advantage. It cherishes truth as the path to a suc-cessful we. It recognizes scarcity as a problem to be solved for the common good.

By Dave Svetlik

Making Money or Making Sense



13/13


Pa g e


We didnt put aman on themoon becausesome companythought they

might be able tomake a profitdoing it. It takesvision to involvethe commongood of theAmerican peoplewithout regardfor profit. Ifyoure charting acourse for thiscountry and yourbig idea is, No,We Cant, thenI dont want youleading thecountry.

--Rachel Maddow,MSNBC host

Making the most money promotes manipulation of financial systems for selfish gain.Exotic financial instruments and financial speculation are accepted as legitimate toolsfor tricking the public out of their claim to a decent life in the game of you or me. Ad-vantaging ones self at the expense of others is normal, and ethical behavior is the do-main of fools. It is the discipline of failure for millions of humans.

Making the most sense recognizes financial manipulation as parasitic and destructive.It realizes that true wealth is the combination of resources and intellect in ever more ef-fective ways to continuously improve the human condition. Money is understood as a

means of exchanging true wealth, but an absolute commitment to ethical behavior pre-vents the piracy of financial systems for selfish gain. Making sense refuses to playgames with human life. It is the discipline of hope for all humanity.

Making the most money opposes any attempt to invest in the general welfare becauseworking for the common good it is a threat to the ideology of you or me. Public edu-cation, universal national healthcare, guaranteed retirement income, and investment inclean energy, high speed trains, or infrastructure are all impossibly expensive. Poverty inormal natures way of culling the least fit the affirmation of survival of the fittestIt is only when money making feels threatened that true wealth becomes visible. Vastpublic funds are immediately and mysteriously available when war is deemed necessaryto protect the interests of the money makers. Trillions of public dollars suddenly appear

to bail out collapsing banks. But using public funds to help the public can never be af-forded.

Making the most sense recognizes true wealth as the ever improving use of resourcesand energy to serve all humans. We can afford to do anything the laws of physics willallow. In fact we cannot afford notto do that which makes sense for all humanity.Investing in the public in the success of we is the only sustainable economic sys-tem. The Earth, Sun, and Moon ask us to pay for nothing. They ask only that we carefor our spaceship. When we begin making the most sense, we will find that no humanneed ever suffer from poverty or lack of true wealth again.

Making the most money sees the Earth and its people as objects to exploit. Harmful

secondary side effects and environmental degradation are of no concern. Short termprofits and selfish gains are all that matter in the battle of you or me. Earth as ourspaceship is never conceptualized.

Making the most sense recognizes Earth as the spaceship it factually is, and under-stands that protecting its functioning integrity is paramount. If the ship is lost, little elsematters. Conceptualizing Earth as our spaceship and the success of all of its passengersas critical to human success in the universe becomes the overarching guidance system foall of our actions. Making sense becomes the heart and soul of visionary thinking.

Making Sense Continued . . .

middle wi news - october

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